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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 17:24:35 MYT
From: kim quek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
JUDICIAL CRISIS AND THE IRRELEVANT MAHATHIR
14.06.2000
Prime Minister Mahathir¡¦s outburst (upon his return from Japan) on the
current judicial crisis involving the Chief Justice is shocking.
Instead of dealing with the facts, he launched a completely irrelevant
and illogical attack on the Bar Council and made wild accusation against
the general critics.
The crisis at hand is that the Law Minister openly rebuked the Chief
Justice for improper conduct based on certain available evidence. The
Chief Justice furiously denied the charges and gave his version of the
story, insulting the Law Minister in the course of it. Then new
evidence emerged which indicated the Chief Justice¡¦s version was a lie.
The Chief Justice has failed to refute the new evidence, in spite of
calls on him to do so. Meanwhile, amidst public outcry for action, the
Bar Council called for a meeting to decide on a motion to set up a
Tribunal or Royal Commission of Enquiry to investigate the allegations
on the Chief Justice.
What should a good prime minister do facing this situation upon his
return from an oversea trip? We would expect him to look into the
facts, and if the facts so justify, institute action on the chief
justice in accordance with the constitution. And how does the Malaysian
Constitution deal with a wayward Chief Justice? The setting up of a
Tribunal to conduct the necessary investigation and thereafter to make
recommendation to the King ¡V as suggested by the Bar Council and
demanded by the public.
And what did our Prime Minister Mahathir do upon his return from Japan?
An angry attack on the Bar Council! He accused the Council of wanting
to get rid of the Chief Justice, and likened this to his own action to
remove former Lord President Salleh Abas in 1988. He said ¡§The last
time when we took action to remove the Lord President (Tun Salleh Abas),
it was the Bar Council which condemned us. Now it wants a judge who
will be on his side.¡¨
He added, if the Bar Council could accuse the Government of removing
a
judge (meaning Salleh) who was unfavourable to the Government, the
Council
could now be accused of doing the same (meaning removing a judge who is
not
favourable to the Council). ¡§What¡¦s the difference?¡¨ he asked.
Putting it more plainly, Mahathir seemed to say ¡§If you can condemn me
for
sacking Salleh, I can now also condemn you for trying to sack Eusoff¡¨.
Is Mahathir suggesting that the Bar Council¡¦s alleged attempt to remove
Eusoff is as damnable as his action to sack Salleh? If so, then he is
admitting his own guilt in sacking Salleh.
If he still insists his sacking of Salleh is above board, then what¡¦s
wrong
with similar action by the Council (in removing Eusoff)?
Hence, Mahathir is either admitting his sacking of Salleh is wrong, or
saying the Bar Council¡¦s alleged attempt to remove Eusoff is right.
Mahathir¡¦s confused logic aside, the awful fact is that the Chief
Justice
is implicated in gross misconduct, the evidence of which is so
convincing
that even the Law Minister thought fit to rebuke him in public. With
the
high profile tit for tat between justices and Minister and the
uncovering of
incriminating new evidence, it has escalated into a scandal of
international
proportion, and caused public confidence in the judiciary to plunge to
its
lowest level. Under these circumstances, it is the height of
irresponsibility on the part of Mahathir to attack and accuse without
making
even one single reference to the facts of the case.
In typical Mahathir style, he attempted to divert attention from the
facts
of the case by wildly attributing this crisis to the existence of a
¡§political agenda¡¨. The basis of his observation? That this incident
should have been brought up only now, so long after it happened. He
further
accused his critics of ¡§ill intention to pit the Government against
judges,
so that the judges will get angry and decide against the Government¡¨.
Firstly, it is not true to say that this incident is brought up only at
this
time. The compromising photographs that implicate Eusoff have been
public
knowledge through the Internet for the past two years. Opposition and
critics have clamoured for action by the Authorities ever since, but to
no
avail. Asian Wall Street journalist Raphael Pura attempted to submit it
in
an Amended Affidavit in a defamation lawsuit but was rejected by the
High
Court on technical ground. Lim Kit Siang tried to introduce a
substantive
motion in Parliament in November 1999 for Eusof to appear in it to
defend
himself, but was brushed aside. All this while, the Barisan Nasional
leadership and the entire government machinery including Eusoff himself
steadfastly played deaf and dumb on this scandal, until it was commented
on
by Law Minister Rais Yatim in Australia earlier this month.
Secondly, the issue facing Mahathir, as the Prime Minister of this
Country,
is not whether there is any politics in this judicial scandal. It is
whether there was impropriety in Eusoff¡¦s conduct as the Chief Justice,
and
whether his activities in question are criminal in nature. The facts of
the
case as they stand now are overwhelmingly against Eusoff. That is why
the
Bar Council is moving for a Tribunal. And that is also why the public
is
demanding that the Barisan Nasional Government act speedily to fulfill
its
obligation to the people. No amount of irrelevant rhetoric by Mahathir
can
change that.
Prime Minister Mahathir has fooled the people many times in the past.
As
loyal citizens of this Country, let us resolve that he shall not succeed
this time.
Kim Quek
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